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Irving Wallace

mr_michel

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one of my all time favorite authors is irving wallace
most books by him i had read are really good

1.- i have read

- the chapman report
Irving Wallace's tawdry best-seller concerning a survey of the sexual habits of American women. Psychologist George C. Chapman arrives in a Los Angeles suburb with his assistant Paul Radford in tow. They are looking for volunteers for their sex survey, and four women raise their hands: Sarah Garnell is a middle-aged woman who is having an affair with young theater director Fred Linden; Teresa Harnish is a happily married woman who becomes attracted to brawny football player Ed Kraski; Naomi Shields is an alcoholic nymphomaniac who takes up with an unsavory jazz musician; and Kathleen Barclay is a young widow who thinks she is frigid -- that is, until Radford makes her his personal project

- the prize
The Prize is a long, complex novel about six Nobel laureates assembling in Stockholm, Sweden, for the awards ceremony. Through their stories Wallace interweaves four issues of concern for Americans in the 1960s: the Technological Revolution, the Sexual Revolution, the Holocaust, and the Cold War.

He also describes the nominating process and the complicating balancing act forced upon the Academy by national, ethnic, and political rivalries.

The five scientists among Wallace's Nobel Prize winners are on the cutting edge of experimentation. Wallace attributes to them discoveries in heart transplant techniques, sperm preservation, and solar energy that within a decade became realities. Wallace's anticipation of these developments makes the novel seem, as the cliched blurb puts it, "as exciting as tomorrow's headlines."

- the three sirens
A team of 9 oddly assorted Americans, led by Dr. Maud Hyden, a world-famous American anthropologist, goes to a remote Polynesian island for 6 weeks with the purpose of facing uninhibited behavior and customs. They find a society where the monotony of marriage is relieved by the freedom to enjoy other mates one week of the year; where the dissatisfactions and repressions of men and women are relieved in a mysterious Social Aid Hut, where women over 40 can enjoy life; where unattractive girls are desired; where grown men do not have to prove their virility by means of their careers.

- the man
The time is 1964. The place is the Cabinet Room of the Where House. An unexpected accident and the law of succession have just made Douglass Dilman the first black President of the United States.
This is the theme of what was surely one of the most provocative novels of
the 1960s. It takes the reader into the storm center of the presidency, where Dilman, until now an almost unknown senator, must bear the weight of three burdens:
his office, his race, and his private life.
From beginning to end, The Man is a novel of swift and tremendous drama,
as President Dilman attempts to uphold his oath in the face of international
crises, domestic dissension, violence, scandal, and ferocious hostility. Push
comes to shove in a breathtaking climax, played out in the full glare of publicity, when the Senate of the United States meets for the first time in one hundred years to impeach the President.

- the plot
Using a couple of real-life events - the banishment of John Patton Davis,U.S. ambassador for China; the defection of Dr Chien to China to head up the nuclear program; the Eisenhower Administration's missile gap; the Kennedy assassination; the Profumo scandal in Britain he had created a really exciting story whose credibility cannot be disputed since it was based on real-life events. I thoroughly enjoyed it from the beginning to the end.

- the word
In the ruins of the ancient Roman seaport of Ostia Antica, an Italian archaeologist has discovered a first century papyrus, its faded text revealing a new gospel written by James, younger brother of Jesus. This discovery will show the world a new Jesus Christ, fill in the missing years of his ministry, contradict the existing accounts of his life--and potentially destroy the foundation of 2,000 years of Western civilization.

- the fan club
the hostaging and ravishing of hollywood's sexiest star by four men of requisite physiogmonies is told with revolving five first person accounts. conversely the she-protagonist seduction of her pursuers provides readers with theater sex, real fantasy and s&m in a literary sensaround of enticing emotional physicality.

- the R document
Vernon Tynan, the `Hoover-esque' director of the FBI believes that by bringing about a police state he can reduce crime, and he is willing to do anything to achieve that goal. Christopher Collins, the Attorney General and our protagonist finds out Tynans intentions to undermine the Bill of rights by passing the 37th amendment, and joins forces with his the opponents of the amendment to try to stop it from becoming law.

- the second lady
"On a state visit to Moscow, Billie Bradford, the beautiful and brilliant wife of the President of the United States is abducted by the Soviets and replaced by Vera Vavilova, a superbly trained Russian undercover agent and actress who is the Frist Lady's physical double.
"The imposter's mission--to induce the President to reveal a U.S. secret that will drastically tip the world balance toward Russia. But one false move--whether before TV cameras or in the White House bedroom--can destroy the entire masquerade.
"And, in Moscow, Billie also has a mission--to frantically seek ways to escape while daringly leading a Soviet intelligence officer astray, about the most intimate area of her married life."
"Two women, each playing a treacherous game in a foreign land, each taking a desperate gamble in the arms of the other's lover--a world-shaking gamble that only one of htem can win..."

*most reviews from amazon

have you read any of this? what do you think? want to discuss any on particular?

2.- i know some of his books were adapted into film, but never got the chance to see any of them, was any of them a good adaptation?

3.- sadly being most of his books from the 60´s and 70´s they are not easy to get, i might be willing to track down some of the rest, which would you recomend?
 
I have not read any of his books but I just checked my library website and they have most of the ones you listed. Which of those did you like best? I could check one out.
 
i would recomend, the three sirens, the word, the plot, the R document and the second lady in no particular order

ill add a little description of each in the first post
 
They all look good, I'm not sure which to pick up but I will get one this weekend at the library and let you know.
 
I read about four of his books years ago. The Prize is one of my favourite books ever. The Man was also very good. An excellent subject. But I thought the Plot was a bit disappointing.

My final read of his was the Seven Minutes. Basically it is about a court case, on free speech, or the right to publish what was thought as a rather controversial novel. I know people who say what a great novel it was, and maybe so, but it did not really appeal to me that much.

I suppose the Prize is a bit dated. But I am re reading it anyway, along with heaps of other favourite books.
 
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